Boyfriend fluff. Ahhhh my favorite. There might be a few dirty jokes but this is a pg-13 book so that goes for most every chapter.
Issac sighed while he swiped his debit card at the pharmacy. The numbers on the card reader were significantly higher than he wanted them to be. In his mind it was worth buying Elliot medicine, a stuffed bear, a few of his favorite drinks, and skittles, but all of those things add up quick. The walk between the pharmacy and Elliot's dorm was quick, but not quick enough for Issac. He simply wanted to be with his boyfriend, caring for him until he's better. There was no worry about Issac getting into Elliot's dorm, he had been gifted a key ages ago.
He quietly let himself in and found the tiny living area messy as it always was, counter littered with dishes and random sketches, paints scattered all over the plastic shower curtains hung next to the couch covered in blankets, paintbrushes and other unknown art supplies spilling out of a roller cart.
Finding Elliot in the small dorm was no issue. There were only three tiny rooms to check, the living area was empty, the bathroom door was open, and Elliot was curled up on top of his unmade bed.
Issac set the bags he was carrying down and quietly walked over to his sleeping boyfriend. Elliot's chocolate curls were longer than he usually kept them, college money was too tight for a haircut and he refused to cut it himself, his pale skin was even paler than normal besides the flushed red cheeks from the obvious raging fever, and he was shivering. The sight almost melted Issac's heart. One thing that Issac didn't know about caring for a sick Elliot is that he wakes up at the slightest touch, even softly placing a hand on his back. His amber eyes startle open at the unexpected, although gentle and welcome, touch.
"Hey Eli. Did I scare you?" Issac asks quietly, unsure if his boyfriend has a headache or not.
"Little bit. S'alright though." Elliot mumbles, voice hoarse and croaky. Issac was unsure if the unnatural voice was due to him just waking up or due to his illness, or perhaps both. Elliot slowly sits up, either due to fatigue and weakness or not to jostle his stomach, or both. Issac still has no idea what could possibly be wrong with his boyfriend but he's going to try his best to care for him anyways.
"Care to tell me-" Issac gets cut off by a harsh coughing fit from his boyfriend. Elliot shakes with every deep, barky, cough released from his body. Issac gently rubs his back.
"Sorry." Elliot's voice deteriorated even more after the aggressive coughing fit.
"Don't be sorry for something you can't control. What's wrong?"
"Pneumonia. Again."
"Again?"
"Yeah this happens every few years. I went to the urgent care right off campus and they gave me some pills to take."
"When'd you have time to go there?"
"Noon? When you texted me I was on the bus there." There's a small pause, Elliot trying to remember the course of events of the day and Issac patiently waiting for him to finish. "They told me the same basic shit they always do."
"Like what?"
"Rest a lot, take these pills every 6 hours even at night, do breathing treatments if you have the machine, and they made very very sure I knew how contagious I am. Speaking of which you should leave before you get sick."
"No, I'm staying. I don't care."
"But you'll get sick." From Issac's view, his boyfriend looked like a lost puppy, begging to get what it wants.
"I don't care. Anything to make you feel better. I have gifts for you by the way." Issac spins around and grabs the three pharmacy bags from the ground.
"You didn't have to do that." Issac starts digging through the bags before pulling out the stuffed bear he purchased before. He presents the fluffy item to his boyfriend. "Oh. I love stuffed animals."
"I know. That's why I got it for you. Have these too." Issac gives him some Skittles, Elliot's favorite.
"Is it okay if I save these for later? I can't really taste anything."
"That's fine. I'm not gonna shove them down your throat or anything. Do you want medicine or something?"
"I don't have anything."
"Darling I just bought the whole damn pharmacy. Whatever you want is either in this bag or doesn't exist."
"You didn't have to do that."
"I wanted to. When are you supposed to take your medication?"
"Four thirty."
"Where did you leave it? It's almost time for you to take it."
"I think I left them in the fridge. If not they're on the counter." Issac was a little confused as to why Elliot left them in the fridge, but he didn't mention it.
"Alright. I'll grab them and some water for you. Anything else? You can dig through the bags if you want."
"I'm fine. Thank you."
"Of course darling." Issac walks out of the small room to search the fridge for the small bottle of medication. Elliot picks up one of the bags in search of cough syrup. He quickly finds what he's looking for and takes a small amount while Issac struggles to navigate the mess in the kitchen. Even with the impossible maze of art supplies Issac manages to find the small orange bottle on top of a pile of sketches. He grabs a bottle of water from the fridge before navigating back through the maze of stuff to get to his boyfriend. The sight of Elliot holding the stuffed bear tightly against his chest combined with his lethargic posture made him look like a small child. Issac nearly liquefied at the sight. "How are you so adorable?" Elliot simply shrugs, clearly running out of his limited energy. "How about you take these and then I'll cuddle you and we can sleep for a while?"
"I thought you were leaving soon?" Elliot doesn't quite sound like he knows what he's saying.
"No. I'm staying until you're better. How many of these do you take?" Issac pops open the childproof lid off of the pill bottle.
"Two. You really shouldn't stay. You'll get sick."
"I don't care. You're sick and I don't want you to be alone." Issac hands Elliot the two small capsules and cracks the water bottle open before placing it in his other hand. Elliot swallows the pills with some water. "Drink more. It'll make you feel better."
"It hurts to swallow."
"Just a little more? I don't want you to get dehydrated." Elliot takes another small sip of water to satisfy his boyfriend's wish. "Thank you. Sleep? Cuddles? I'll wake you up when it's time to take your medicine again."
"You'll get sick."
"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't care? I'm staying whether you like it or not."
"Okay... but if you get sick it's not my fault."
"Deal. Now scoot over so I can cuddle you." Elliot moves over enough so Issac can lay down and spoon him. They subconsciously tangle their legs as Issac wiggles closer to his burning boyfriend. "Hold on a second. I want to take your temperature. You feel pretty warm."
"I don't have a thermometer."
"I told you, I bought the whole damn pharmacy. What kind of thermometer do you prefer; ear, mouth, or ass?"
"I'm not stripping for you right now."
"A man can hope. Ear or mouth?"
"Ear." Issac rips open the box and shakes the device until it beeps. He gently sticks it in his boyfriend's ear and presses the button.
"101.7. That's not great but it's not too high to permit removal of blankets."
"Where'd you learn so much about this kind of stuff?"
"My mom's a nurse. You pick up a thing or two from hearing all her medical shit over the years. Close your eyes and get better fast so I can go back to kissing you."
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It took Issac a few minutes to remember where he was when he woke up. The blazing body in his arms was a good reminder. Elliot was still asleep, but the second Issac shifted his eyes shot open.
"Sorry darling." Issac apologized, his voice deep and husky from the long nap they'd shared.
"S'fine." Elliot slurred his words together sluggishly. It was easy to know Elliot was sick; his eyes had dark bags under them, his skin was pale as paper everywhere but his firetruck red cheeks, his hair was tangled and almost wet from sweat, and he was shivering.
"How do you feel?"
"Shitty."
"Better or worse than when I first got here?"
"Lil'worse."
"Do you want medicine? I have just about everything." Elliot shakes his head before burying the bottom half of his face under the blankets to cough. "That sounds absolutely terrible."
"I know. It makes everything hurt."
"Define everything."
"Ribs, back, face, chest, throat, head, stomach, everything."
"Sounds terrible. Can I do anything to help you?"
"Leave so I don't have to worry about you getting sick?"
"Anything other than that?"
"No."
"So you want me to sit here and watch you be miserable?"
"No."
"Then what do you want?"
"I don't know." Elliot holds the stuffed bear Issac bought him against his chest tighter.
"Sleep? Food? Movies? Medicine? Drawing? Painting? Anything you want."
"Will you paint with me?"
"Sure. It won't be any good though. Where do you want to do it?"
"I usually work on the floor."
"By your cart?"
"Yeah."
"Alright let's go." Issac scoops Elliot in his arms and carries him to the floor next to the couch. Neither of them had ever carried the other but it felt very natural to both. "What do we need?"
"Canvases, paint, brushes, water cups, pallets, and I'd like a bottle of water?"
"What the hell are canvases?" Elliot laughs slightly, then coughs a few times.
"The white board things. They're in the closet by the door." Issac stands up and walks to the closet by the door that he had never fully noticed. Opening it allows a few loose canvases to fall by Issac's feet. He gets a little overwhelmed by the massive amount of choices presented to him. White or black? What size? Rectangle or square? Triangle? Circle?
"Which ones?"
"Medium white rectangle ones." Issac is still a little confused on what medium is but he grabs two canvases that are about the size of his computer and walks back over to Elliot.
"These?"
"Those are perfect." Elliot turns back to the now mostly full paint pallets he created while Issac was searching for canvases. "Will you fill those two cups," he gestures to the cups on the overflowing paint cart, "with some water and grab me something to drink from the fridge?"
"On it."
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"I think I'm done." Elliot announces after almost an hour of them talking, laughing at Issac's inability to paint, and in Elliot's case, coughing.
"Can I see?" Issac, who gave up long before, asks. Elliot turns the wet canvas around to show his boyfriend, revealing an amazingly detailed depiction of an eye, mostly in black and white although bits of color peek through as if the person he had painted was depressed but finding the light and beauty in life. "Holy shit. That's really good."
"Eh. I've done better. You can have it if you want."
"Really?"
"Yeah. It's just a simple painting. I didn't even sketch before." Elliot coughs a few more times.
"It's about time for you to take more medicine. You have water right?" Issac stands up to grab the small orange bottle from the bedside table.
"I drank it all."
"Good boy. I'll bring you more." Issac grabs the pill bottle and more water, placing them on the table by the couch, before picking Elliot up and placing him on the couch. "Movie?"
"Sure. I'm gonna fall asleep though."
"That's good. I'll cuddle you."
"You can cuddle me harder when I'm not contagious anymore."
"When will that be?"
"The day after tomorrow assuming I keep taking these pills."
"That fast? I thought pneumonia took ages to recover from?"
"Sometimes. I won't be contagious anymore but I'll still be sick for a while."
"Well maybe if I kiss you you'll get better faster."
"Maybe."
"What do you wanna watch?"
"I don't care. Can you turn the lights off?" Issac flicks the lights off before sitting down extremely close to Elliot, who shoves him over a little bit so he has room to lay his head on his boyfriend's lap and curl up under the blanket that was thrown over him.
"You sure you don't care? Not even a genre?"
"I'm just gonna fall asleep. Pick something and be quiet."
"Alright. Love ya, sleep well."
"Love you too."
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First story done! I might start doing life updates here but lmk what y'all want! Thank you!
